Juan LaPorte knocked out Rocky Lockridge in the second round in Las Vegas to win the USBA featherweight crown.

PRO FOOTBALL—Washington's Mike Nelms knows how to make the most of second chances. Released by the Buffalo Bills as a rookie, he latched on with the Redskins as a free agent after a tour of the CFL and earned Pro Bowl honors as a kick returner in his first NFL season. Nelms also got two chances as the Skins beat local rival Baltimore 13-7 in preseason play. After having a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown called back because of a penalty, he ran another punt back 54 yards for a TD. The win left Washington as one of just four unbeaten teams. One of those, St. Louis, also beat a regional opponent, using Safety Lee Nelson's seven-yard fumble return for a TD to defeat Kansas City 16-3. In other local matches, San Diego won the Lieut. Governor's Trophy by beating L.A. 33-29, thanks to a 34-yard interception return by another player with a new lease on life, Wyatt Henderson, who was cut by the Rams last year; Buffalo claimed Lake Erie with a 31-20 defeat of the Browns; and the Jets outscored the Giants 37-24—for bragging rights to New York—in New Jersey. New England and Miami retained their perfect records with narrow wins, the Pats holding off Oakland 23-21 with the help of John Smith's three field goals, and Dave Woodley scooting two yards around end with 12 seconds left to lead the Dolphins over Detroit 31-27. In other games, Tampa Bay beat Houston 27-17, Chicago shaded Cincinnati 24-21, San Francisco beat Seattle 24-17, Denver defeated Green Bay 17-7, Dallas downed Pittsburgh 24-14, Minnesota edged Atlanta 20-19 and Philadelphia dealt New Orleans its first loss 36-7.

GOLF—HALE IRWIN won a $350,000 PGA event in Grand Blanc, Mich. on the second hole of a four-way playoff after finishing at 277,11 under par.

Beth Daniel shot a four-under-par 284 to win the $150,000 World Championship of Women's Golf in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She finished one stroke ahead of Jan Stephenson.

HARNESS RACING—WILDWOOD JEB ($24.60), driven by James Marohn, won the second leg of pacing's Triple Crown, the $373,850 Cane Pace at Yonkers Raceway. The 3-year-old colt covered the mile in 1:58⅕ finishing 1¼ lengths ahead of Brand New Fella and Eastern Skipper.

MOTOR SPORTS—DARRELL WALTRIP, driving his Buick at 84.723 mph around the .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) International Raceway, gained a one-lap victory over Ricky Rudd, in a Chevrolet, in a 500-lap Grand National event.

SOCCER—NASL: Having gained a first-round playoff bye for winning the league point title, the Cosmos should have been sitting at home enjoying themselves while the other 14 playoff qualifiers prepared for their best-of-three series. Instead, the New Yorkers were smarting from a 2-1 shootout loss to divisional doormat Toronto and reading newspaper reports of the likely firing of their coach, Hennes Weisweiler. Meanwhile, Calgary and Fort Lauderdale tuned up for their match-up with wins on the regular season's last day. The Strikers blanked Atlanta 2-0 as Goalie Jan van Beveren got his ninth shutout of the season, and Franz Gerber's second goal of the game—coming in the second overtime—gave the Boomers a 3-2 win over Seattle. Calgary's first playoff loss was to Billy Graham, who had booked McMahon Stadium, forcing the Boomers to give up the home-field advantage they had earned by finishing seven points ahead of the Strikers. Playing in Fort Lauderdale, the Boomers then lost 3-1 in Game 1 as the Strikers' Branko Segota scored the hat trick. San Diego won the Western Division title on the last day of the season, as Kaz Deyna's three scores subdued California 5-2 while second-place L.A. lost 2-1 to Portland. The Timbers gained a playoff spot with that victory, which they followed with another 2-1 upset, this time of the Sockers in the opener of their series. In other first-round playoff games, Minnesota beat Tulsa 3-1 for its first road playoff win ever, Chicago stung Seattle 3-2, Tampa Bay upset Vancouver 4-1 and slumping Atlanta fell to Jacksonville 3-2 in OT.

ASL: New York United moved past Pennsylvania in the Liberty Conference for the first time, defeating the New York Eagles twice, 4-1 on two Solomon Hilton goals, and 3-2. Detroit passed Carolina early in the week in the Freedom Conference, but the Lightnin' rebounded with a 3-1 defeat of Cleveland to reclaim the lead by six points.

SWIMMING—CRAIG BEARDSLEY of the U.S. broke his year-old 200-meter world butterfly record by .2 of a second, clocking 1:58.01 in Kiev, U.S.S.R.

Ivan Lendl won the $200,000 Canadian Open in Montreal with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Eliot Teltscher, and TRACY AUSTIN won the $200,000 Canadian Open women's title, 6-1, 6-4, over Chris Evert Lloyd the following week in Toronto.

TRACK & FIELD—Two world records fell in Zurich, where SEBASTIAN COE ran a 3:48.53 mile to lower Steve Ovett's record by .27 of a second, and RENAL-DO NEHEMIAH improved his 110-meter hurdles mark by .07 of a second to 12.93 (page 18).

Dwight Stones, 27, broke his own American high-jump record of 7'6½" with a leap of 7'7" in Nice. His old mark was set in 1973.

MILEPOSTS—CONVICTED: By a State District Court jury in Albuquerque, on one count of fraud and another of filing a false public voucher, former University of New Mexico Assistant Basketball Coach MANNY GOLDSTEIN, 33. Goldstein was found not guilty on four other counts. The charges stemmed from an investigation of recruiting violations at New Mexico in 1979.

TRADED: By the Pittsburgh Pirates, First Baseman JOHN MILNER, 31, to the Montreal Expos for WILLIE MONTANEZ, 33, also a first baseman.

By the Edmonton Oilers, Right Wing DON MURDOCH, 24, to the Minnesota North Stars for Defense-man DON JACKSON, 24, and a 1982 third-round draft choice. The North Stars then dealt Murdoch to the Detroit Red Wings, with Defenseman GREG SMITH, 25, and a first-round pick in 1982 for the Red Wings' 1982 first-round choice.

DIED: DOUG DILK, 21, a senior lineman and captain of the University of Evansville football team; of head injuries suffered in an auto accident; in Indianapolis.

WILLIAM M. JENNINGS, 60, a member of two hockey halls of fame, president of the New York Rangers since 1962 and an architect of the NHL's expansion during the 1960s; of cancer; in Byram, Conn.

Lynn O. (Pappy) Waldorf, 78, the former Oklahoma City, Oklahoma A&M, Kansas State, Northwestern and Cal football coach who led the Golden Bears to three straight Rose Bowls in 1948-50 and was a member of the National Football Foundation's Hall of Fame; of a heart attack; in Berkeley, Calif.